How has the Mumbai attack changed security risk perception?
With the Mumbai attack, terror has taken a new dimension. It raises many questions, like how equipped are we? There were about 10 private security guards at the Trident, but all of them had nothing but batons with them while the terrorists wielded AK-47s. Three of the guards got killed. The guards are sitting ducks as they are invariably the first targets of terrorists. Even if a few of the guards had automatic weapons, then they probably could have killed the terrorists or at least restricted them to the lobby or the reception and could have reduced the mass murders that followed. We face the same handicap in all our fronts, whether it is guarding corporates or institutions. What kind of policy changes do you expect from the government? In India, though the Private Security Agencies Act, 2005 has regulated private agencies, it still doesn’t allow them to carry weapons. The security men guarding our monuments and ATMs have the kind of weapons that private citizens can buy if they have
